About our Trails

About the Finger Lakes Trail

The Finger Lakes Trail System (show map) includes the main Finger Lakes Trail
(FLT), from the Pennsylvania-New York border in Allegany State Park
to the Long Path in the Catskill Forest Preserve, and its numerous branch
and loop trails.
The main FLT is 561 miles long. The branch and loop trails currently add an additional
350 miles. The trail system was built
and is being maintained by organizations (such as the Cayuga
Trails Club) and individual and family trail sponsors. All of
these groups and individuals are volunteers, except for personnel of
the U.S. Forest Service who maintain 4.5 miles of the main FLT and
the 12-mile-long Interloken Trail, one of the FLT System's branch
trails. The Finger
Lakes Trail Conference (FLTC) was organized
in 1962 to promote and coordinate the building, maintenance, and
protection of the FLT System.

Several sections of the main FLT have been certified by the
National Park Service as official components of the North Country
National Scenic Trail (show map). When completed, the North
Country Trail (NCT) will
extend 4,600 miles across seven states from eastern New York to central
North Dakota.

— Reproduced with permission from
Adventure Calling You! and A Brief History of the Finger Lakes Trail,
published by the Finger Lakes Trail Conference.

The
Cayuga Trails Club is responsible for maintenance of about 90 miles of the
Finger Lakes Trail System, which includes 23 miles of the
North Country Trail. Many of the club's hikes are on sections of the FLT/NCT
System.

About the Cayuga Trail

The Cayuga Trail is a hiking trail, approximately 8.5 miles long, through
the Cornell University campus, Cornell Plantations garden and arboretum areas,
and through several Cornell Plantations Natural Areas. It follows the Fall Creek gorge from the
Cornell Campus east into the Town of Dryden (show map).

The Cayuga Trails Club started building the Cayuga Trail in 1964; it has been expanded several times in its history.
The most recent expansion was done in 2000 after a short section of trail along Fall Creek was washed away during heavy
spring snow melt and rains. The section was replaced by a very scenic reroute following both sides of a gorge entering Fall Creek.

The Cayuga Trail takes hikers along the high banks and water's edge of Fall
Creek, through hardwood forests, pine plantations, and interesting areas of
lush ferns and hawthorns. This hike features early spring wildflowers,
birds, railroad history and lore, magnificent vistas, interesting geological
features, and the beauty of very wild sections
of Fall Creek and Cornell's natural areas. The Cayuga Trail is considered one
of the most beautiful foot trails
in the Ithaca region.

About other trails

There are numerous other opportunities in the Cayuga Trails Club region for hiking and quiet recreation in natural areas.
Explore the following links for further information.